Hotwire Hotel: Has HOTWIRE become sneaky in ID'ing hotels?

[chas]

Ok, this is for August 29 thru Sept 1, total of 4 nites in Fort Lauderdale Beach Zone. When searching for vacation packages the Sun Tower Hotel comes up as 2 star with Beachfront, Pool, and Restaurant. When I try to get a hotel alone, for exact same dates, there is a 2 star hotel in the Beachzone but it only has 2 ammenity icons, Pool and Restaurant, for $49/nite, which is what historically the Sun Tower has cost on Hotwire during Septemeber (I actually keep records from previous years, odd as it may seem) So, the question is, are they removing an icon to keep the identification of the hotel vague? By the way the Sun Tower is now 2 stars, not 2 1/2 as is stated in the "pinned" section. It comes up 2 stars when doing a vac package search. Thanks

[thereuare]

I actually keep records from previous years, odd as it may seem

How old is your data, since I don't see any posts on the board from you for the Sun Tower in the last 5 years... or was it this UNRESOLVED threads (which we previously requested HERE that you follow-up)

Please use these PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links to begin your travel purchases.

[chas]

I have replied to the referenced unresolved thread.

My data is from July 2007, specifically, the last week in July while searching for a vaction for Sept 20, 2007, for 4 nights. I am probably stating the obvious when I mention that Florida is a very good deal in September (shoulder season, I suppose).

As always, thanks for your help.

[thereuare]

There are a few hotels that have different amenities in the 'opaque' product and the vacation packages. We even see hotels that change their amenities from one search to the next.

As there is no additional information regarding the 2* hotel with only Pool and Restaurant, so it won't be known if this is the Sun Tower or not until somebody makes a purchase and reports it to the board.

Please use these PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links to begin your travel purchases.

[chas]

Thanks for the insights, given the sophistication of computers I figured someone would come up with something like this to make it harder to figure out which hotel is which. If I book it I will use your HOTWIRE link and post info. It's probably worth the gamble, if it has a restaurant it's not one of the run-down motels along A1A. Thanks again.